Sometimes it starts out as "friends" ........then ends up as "enemies".

Trace - we stayed on our neighbor's property for 10 days while the house was on the market, through the contract being signed. We were all working so there was no expectation of any kind of daily contact, they stopped by a couple of times just to see if everything was okay, we helped with pruning some bushes that would have made entry / exit more difficult, etc. At the end of the 10 days we gave them a gift certificate and they were really surprised by that, didn't expect anything, just being nice neighbors.

I think it depends on the situation, how long you plan on staying, and how much electricity will be used during the stay. We have never stayed more than a few days at friends' houses and usually offer to take them to dinner at least once. We also try to minimize our electric usage by not doing laundry or using the A/C, but we have not stayed more than a few days.

RickandJanice are doing what we do.

I just bought my first RV and getting my inspection etc taken care of however, I have a friend who has a travel trailer, he is a full timer. He has family all over he west and mid-west. He usually makes dinner or bbq's, buys the food, takes them out for dinner and/or offers a few bucks toward electricity. My first trip north will be with staying with friends in Howell Mi, they have 2 acres. I plan on following my friends advice with the exception of cooking.

Debbie - I think your "baby sitting" of the ranch when calves were being born while your brother vacationed in Hawaii, was way more than a fair trade for the space you occupied!!

Stayed 2 months on my friends property. At the end of my stay I had him compare his water/electric bill for the same period from the previous year and paid the difference. $250 for 2 months of water/electricity/trash pick up. Can't beat that ! I also cooked a meal once a week. He felt it was fair and we both walked away winners !

Marilyn & Gene

We've been blessed to be invited to stay on a lot of properties over the years - we love being temporary neighbors. And that's what we try to make clear - the line between being a neighbor and a guest.

If we're there for just a day or two - we make the time to hangout as much as our hosts desires. We usually find folks are excited to have us there, already have dinner waiting/planned for our first night (we always accept, and always ask what we can bring - after all, we have our own kitchen too), want to offer their amenities (laundry, hot tub, WiFi), want to pick our brains on something and want to give us tips of things to do in the area. Basically, for a very short stay, we'll happily be hosted and carry small gifts with us to give hosts. We try to pay attention as to what might be appreciated.

If we're staying a week or two (which we don't do unless we know the host quite well already).. we make sure expectations are in sync. We're temporary neighbors, not guests. We have daily life to attend to, work hours to get in, people in the area we might like to visit and so do they. Like friendly neighbors, we are happy to converge on some meals together (meaning, we both contribute to them), set aside time to socialize and help out on small tasks. But we're not there to be hosted, we're not on vacation and neither are we trading 'chores' for a place to stay (we have our own unending list to attend to as well.) We just enjoy the casual interaction of having cool people nearby - and if they do too, it's a win-win. We generally insist on taking them out to dinner, and we always leave a gift.

If we're somewhere really longer term (longest we've stayed is 6 weeks) - then we always ask if there's ways we can contribute towards any costs/impact there might be in having us, or how we can best show our appreciation.

Thanks Cherie...I like the way you broke it into multiple categories depending on the length of stay.

We're staying with friends right now. They only have a 20A outlet for us, so we run the generator during the day to keep the a/c going. Once the sun sets we can turn the a/c off, turn the generator off, and use their electricity. We each eat breakfast separately, but have been combining forces for lunch and supper. The two ladies have been enjoying visiting, cooking, visiting, etc. as they work together on things. The two guys do our own things part of the time and work together part of the time. Their kids basically ignore us "old people" unless they need us for something. Another family is stopping by later tomorrow, so it should be quite a visit here.

The two ladies are planning all of the food stuff, and the rest of us are happy to enjoy it. The kids take care of the dishwasher, and then disappear to do their own things. Jo Ann made a cake (half gone) and will be putting some pork on the crock pot tomorrow morning for tomorrow's supper.

We all agreed that we don't expect them to entertain us, and their life goes on even with friends parked outside. Oh yes, he is the pastor of two small rural congregations and we're parked on the parking lot between the parsonage and one of the church buildings, so running the generator doesn't bother anyone except our cat.